What Is Early Intervention
What is Early Intervention?
Arizona caregivers want the best for their children, but don’t always have the means to provide it. You may have heard that early intervention can help, but what is early intervention? Early intervention bridges this gap, bringing much-needed professional services to children with a variety of developmental delays. Read on to learn more about early intervention, eligibility, and how RISE can help.Early Intervention Defined
Early intervention gives families the tools needed to support their kids’ health and wellbeing. Young children with developmental delays are eligible for early intervention. Children may also be eligible if they are believed to be at risk of suffering such delays in the future. Because the needs of each child vary, early intervention services will be tailored to meet the specific needs of each child. Depending on the situation, children may require speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or special development instruction.Who Is Eligible?
Early intervention is available for families with children between the ages of 0 and 36 months. To qualify, children must be developmentally delayed. Children may also qualify if they suffer from a condition that is deemed likely to cause developmental delays. The biggest hurdle for discerning eligibility, of course, is determining whether a child has developmental delays. A child is deemed developmentally delayed if he or she fails to reach 50 percent of identified developmental milestones in at least one of the following categories:- Physical
- Communication
- Cognition
- Social-emotional
- Adaptive
- Metabolic disorders
- Chromosomal abnormalities
- Spina bifida
- Hydrocephalus
- Cerebral palsy
- Significant visual or auditory impairments
- Periventricular leukomalacia
- Grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage